I had dinner at Bati last night and it was really scrumptious! I am accustomed to really great Ethiopian food in Washington, DC (where there is a really large Ethiopian population) but I have not found anything in NYC that quite measures up until I ate here!

The restaurant is small but cozy and wait staff attentive. My guest and I had the meat and vegetarian combination platter which is a great way to sample various dishes (if you are not sure what to order). They told me that they had been only open for a week but it was packed with Fort Greeners on Saturday night. I believe they will also be opening for lunch soon. It is BYOB. I will definitely go again!

FYI, you eat from a community plate with your fingers - there is no knife and fork!

Sorry, but this place is a far cry from anything in DC. Very overpriced for what you get, and both the meat and veggie dishes were mediocre, but the real travesty is the bread. I don't know where they get off calling that stuff injera, but there was zero teff in it. It was the color of wonder bread, lacked any sort of springiness, totally fell apart, and left a glutinous residue on my fingers to boot. Seriously, avoid Bati.

Ate there tonight and thought most everything was really bland. We only got veggie stuff, so maybe the meat's better. At least 4 or 5 of our veggie things had no interesting flavors at all, and the injera (bread) was missing the delicious sour bite that it normally has.

Went for lunch a couple of weeks ago. My view is somewhat in between the extremes represented here so far. The injira was not the best i've had (I also like a spongy, sour bread), but was far from the worst. I had the meat combo...portions were a little small, but all items included were very tasty. The vegetable accompaniment was somewhat bland, but the greens usually are in my experience, and were tasty nonetheless. So..not a knockout, but in my mind Bati gets a split decision, and I will return for another try.

Went last night with high hopes. But have to agree with the more negative posts on here. Had the meat and veggie combo: that meant seven different bland dishes on a plate. "Spicy", "mild", it all tasted the same. And yes, the injera was strangely soft and smooth.

I don't love Ghenet on Fourth Ave either, but it's better than Bati (too bad, as it's further from my house!).